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CNN Live At Daybreak
Congress to Investigate Ecstasy Drug Use
Aired July 30, 2001 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: The rising use of the ecstasy drug is leading to a congressional hearing that's starting about 9:30 Eastern this morning kind of known as the club drug.
CNN's Eileen O'Connor looks at how the popular culture drug has affected some young people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA MOORE (ph), ECSTASY USER: You know, I didn't care about anything but doing ecstasy. I didn't want to wake up in the mornings, unless I knew I had a pill waiting there next to me to take.
EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): That's what Dana Moore is going to tell Congress about the increasingly popular drug, ecstasy.
The 16-year-old is currently in a yearlong residential treatment program.
DR. ALAN LESHNER, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE: This is your brain on ecstasy.
O'CONNOR (on camera): So we see a lot less yellow down here. What does that mean?
LESHNER: This is telling you that three weeks after this individual last used ecstasy, they have a significant decrease in the brain's ability to use this important chemical called serotonin that's involved in mood, in cognitive function, in pain and sleep.
O'CONNOR (voice-over): Dr. Alan Leshner says new government- sponsored studies show long-lasting effects on memory and mood.
DR. CHARLES GROB, HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: Clearly the case is not closed on -- to what degree MDMA affects the brain.
O'CONNOR: Dr. Charles Grob says safety tests that has done on MDMA, or ecstasy, show it isn't necessarily harmful. Still, Grob says children should not take it.
GROB: One of the most compelling arguments you can make to young people is to alert them to the rampant and rising degree of drug substitution. O'CONNOR: That, says a group called DanceSafe, is why they test ecstasy pills teens have bought at raves to see if they are pure -- here, training on an over-the counter remedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is less harmful than a lot of legal substances that are out there, especially if it's used in therapeutic settings or in recreational settings where people know what they have taken.
O'CONNOR: But Leshner says the notion that the drug is safe is driving up use.
LESHNER: The myth is that even pure ecstasy is fine. And the truth is, even pure ecstasy is not fine. We have known for over a decade that this is a neuro-toxic substance. It destroys brain cells.
O'CONNOR (on camera): While some scientists argue that doesn't necessarily mean long-term cognitive damage from ecstasy, Congress still wants to determine what to do about the rising use of this drug among teens.
Eileen O'Connor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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